by Dawn Tomasko
"Mom, hi."
Within seconds, Gabriel's smile faded, his brows drew together. Concerned, Sara sat up, swung her legs to the floor. From his expression and rigid posture, she understood something was very wrong. Reaching for the sheet, she wrapped it around her.
"Are you okay?” Silence. "I will.” Standing, he paced the hardwood floor. "First flight out. I'll be there. I'm coming. Hang on, Mom, okay?"
He ended the call, slowly placed the phone on her bedside table and sank beside her. With a slow motion, his shoulders rounded. Palms together, he leaned forward with elbows on his knees.
"What is it?” she asked, ran a soothing hand over his back. “Gabriel, what’s wrong?”
The devastation in his expression brought tears to hers. "My father had a heart attack,” he told her, raw disbelief in his voice. "He's in Greenwich Hospital."
"Oh, God. How bad is it?"
The muscles along his jaw worked. "Mom doesn't have much information so far. They're still working on him. I have to go to Connecticut.”
"Let me help you,” she said, grabbed his shirt, belt, and shoes.
Her actions spurred him on. Gabriel quickly dressed and followed her downstairs. Sara sat at the kitchen table and fired up her laptop. "I'm going online to search for flights. Do you want to go into Westchester like Toni did?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's fastest,” he said, raked a hand through his hair. After he had wedged on his boat shoes, he slid his belt through the loops of his jeans. "I'll have Michael pick me up.”
A few mouse clicks later she had the information. "Here we go. This flight takes you to Boston, then to New York. Do you want me to keep looking, price it out?"
"No,” he took his wallet out, gave her his credit card. "Book it."
"Do you want one way?” she asked, afraid of the answer. In spite of his worry, his eyes met hers, focused and steady. Gabriel knew how to deal with stressful situations.
"No, sweetheart, open-ended. I'm coming back."
Sara nodded, her hands shook as they flew over the keyboard, dizzy with relief. While she couldn't afford the expensive, last minute travel arrangements Gabriel could, she'd get there as quick as she could.
After shutting down the laptop, she grabbed her purse. "Okay, I'll take you to your place to pack.”
Her car flew down Madaket Road to the outskirts of Town. While she had yet to visit him there, she knew how to find the house. Once there, they went to his room. Gabriel pulled a mid-sized suitcase out of the closet while Sara opened dresser drawers.
"I don't know what you need."
"Anything. My poor mother. She sounded lost. I've never heard her like that, ever. What if I don't get there in time?” his voice came out in a gritty rasp.
"You have to believe he'll be okay. He's a strong man, and still young.” Several pairs of boxers, socks, some shorts, shirts and a pair of jeans landed in the suitcase. On the floor next to his bed lay a pair of sneakers, which she shoved in, too. He wore his topsiders, so he'd have two pairs of shoes.
Headed toward the closet, she rifled through the hangers. "How about a jacket?"
"Don't worry about it, I still have clothes at the house. Whatever you put in is fine."
From the bathroom, she grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste, razor and shaving cream. A small toiletry bag sat on the hamper, and she dumped in the items and zipped it up. Then she scanned the bathroom for what else he might need. "Do you take medication?"
"Cholesterol. It's in the medicine chest, left side.”
"Found it,” she called, ran back to the bedroom, tossed it into the bag. "We have to get to the airport. We lucked out. Your flight leaves in half an hour. Let's go."
Gabriel locked the house up, gave Sara the key. They hurried to her car, with Sara behind the wheel. He rolled the window down, as the car tore down the rutted road. Dust billowed out behind them. His cell rang again. "Michael,” he told her, then took the call through the Bluetooth in his truck. Quiet while his brother talked, he gripped her hand over the console. After an obviously stilted and brief conversation, the call ended.
"He'll pick me up. They're at the hospital now. Mom, Michael, and Nicole,” his voice broke.
"Honey, I'm sorry.” Sara nailed the accelerator, whipped the car into the airport parking lot. She flew out of the car, opened the back seat and grabbed his bag. He took it from her.
"I have it, baby. I have it. You're incredible,” he wrapped his arms around her, squeezed hard. "God, I don't want to leave you. After last night, all I want is to be with you again."
"It's all right. I want to be there for you. I can call Bree and tell her to go home to Connecticut or to stay with Charlotte until I get back."
"No,” he shook his head. "This is too important. You've waited a long time for this."
"Gabriel, please.” Something felt wrong, very wrong about this. Sara didn’t want the separation, not like this.
"No,” he repeated, harshly this time. After one look at the hurt expression on her face, he gripped her shoulders. "Baby, I wish we had time to talk about it, but we don't. I need to go, you need to stay. These things are important for both of us."
More hurt than she cared to admit but it didn’t matter right now, she ran with him to the terminal and up to the ticket counter. At the automatic doors, he turned to her. Kissed her hard.
Tears of frustration coursed down her cheeks. "I want to be with you."
"I know you do, and I love you for it. But you’ve got to be here for Brianna. We don’t end,” he said fiercely, gave her a light shake. "Do you hear me? I'll stay until they no longer need me, but I am coming back. My life is here now. Please have Charlotte call Sam so he can let my clients know."
Up on her toes, she threw her arms around his shoulders. Sara buried her face in his neck, inhaling the scent of his skin. "I will."
"I'll keep in touch.” After one last bruising kiss, he ran out on the tarmac, turned back to wave, then boarded the plane.
Frustrated tears pricked her eyes, blurred her vision. God, she wanted to support him. Sara stood and watched the plane until it went out of sight. On the walk back to her car, the adrenaline rush crashed. Random thoughts sped through her mind, shock over the news about his father and the speed they’d moved to get him packed and gone. Making love with him changed her, brought her to new levels of awareness. Gabriel said he loved her. Did he? Or did the stress of the moment make it come out that way? With his sudden departure, Sara didn’t know what to do next. Since her arrival, he’d been in her life. The chime of her cell phone came as a welcome distraction.
Gabriel. Tapping the message icon, she read the words he sent and her heart swelled.
Miss you already.
While Sara kept herself busy cleaning the house for Brianna's arrival the next day, Gabriel occupied his private corner of hell. Michael met him at the airport as promised. The day before, he'd been ready to make amends, to heal the breach with Michael. But today, with his father ill, and life thrown into chaos, all thoughts of reconciliation fled.
In the terminal, they stood toe to toe at the baggage carousel. Neither knew what to say. Then Gabriel's suitcase came through. He grabbed the handle and started walking with Michael close on his heels.
"Hey,” his brother called. When Gabriel didn't answer, he yelled. "Hey!"
Gabriel spared him a glance but didn't stop until they exited the building and reached Michael's Mercedes. Wrenching the back seat open he threw his bag in the backseat. "Get in, will you? How's Dad?"
Both men opened the car doors and got in. "We're still waiting for word. You got here pretty fast.”
Once on the road, Michael scratched his head. His hair, unlike Gabe's, sported a severe short cut. Gold glittered at his wrist. Gabriel recognized the brand. "Nice watch. Where'd you pick up the Louis Moinet?"
His brother glanced at the watch. "Newport. Nicole and I took a long weekend."
Unable to quell his frustrated animosity, Gabe snorted. "Did Nic get a wa
tch, too?"
Michael gestured with his hand. "Yes, but she got a Cartier."
"Of course, she did."
Michael's head whipped in his direction. "When are you going to get over it?"
Gabriel checked his phone, stared ahead at the road, silent. He found it fascinating that having a tool belt around his waist fit better than an expensive watch around his wrist.
I'm more at home with Sara on the beach, banging nails or digging pine trees out of the ground. When had he begun to think of Nantucket as home?
"When, Gabe?” Jarred from his musings, he looked over at Michael. The custom made suit Michael wore fit like a glove. Gabriel used to wear suits, bought from the same designer. They frequented the same places, socialized with the same people. Now they couldn’t be more different.
"Regarding my ‘getting over it,' I've got some valuable information for you regarding Nicole, but right now, it's all about Dad. Why the hell are you wearing a suit if we're going to be at the hospital?"
"Habit, I guess."
Gabriel reached over and turned back the collar of the suit. "Gucci."
Michael shoved his hand away, then pinned him with a cold, green-eyed stare. "What the hell is with you? You wore suits, your fucking closet at home is full of them along with two dozen pairs of expensive shoes. Italian, I recall, are your favorites. What the hell do you care?"
Gabriel gave a self-deprecating smile. "Frankly, I find it interesting. I look at you and see the man I no longer am. Right now I live on a beautiful island off the coast of Massachusetts. I wear worn work jeans, boots, t-shirts and a baseball cap. My hands are calloused, and I get dirty. I’m damn happy about it, too. Seeing you now, I must admit, this — “ he nodded toward his brother. "–works for you."
"Yeah, it works.” A car cut Michael off, and he cursed and stomped the brake.
"Maybe you and Nicole are a good fit. You have a lot in common. Before the call came about Dad's heart attack, I decided to come for a visit. Time to put all this behind us. Right now, there's enough to going on. I need to see Dad, talk to him."
"I’m not up for it either, not with Dad being sick.” Michael stared ahead at the road. "For your information, Nic's at the hospital."
"Mom told me.” Gabe checked his cell for messages and smiled when he saw Sara’s text. She missed him, too.
Michael deftly maneuvered the car through heavy traffic. "She's there because she loves me, and cares about Mom and Dad. I want you to be civil to her."
"You're an asshole, you know that?” Gabriel yelled. "It's always about you, isn't it? You're so wrapped up in DE and Nic you can’t see the truth. Do whatever you want. Forgive me if I'm not receptive to sit at the dinner table with you, our family and Nicole.” Honestly, what did his brother expect? "There never was anything between us, whether you choose to believe it or not. I'm not in the mood for any bullshit. I came for Mom and Dad."
His brother’s profile, though handsome and decidedly patrician, showed signs of strain. "I know what I saw on my phone. Nicole, naked in a hotel room, wrapped around you. You know how I feel about her. How I’ve always felt. You're a son of a bitch.”
Let him think whatever he wanted. He didn't have the energy for this now. "We come from the same stock, don’t we?"
His brother's fingers gripped the steering wheel tightly, fingertips white. Gabriel recognized the set of his jaw. He'd pissed Michael off royally. Perversely, it pleased him.
"We will settle this, Gabe."
Tightly, he gripped the door handle until it creaked. "Michael, do us both a favor and shut the hell up."
Chapter Sixteen
Though he supposed not many people liked them, Gabriel hated hospitals with a visceral passion. The sights, sounds and smells made his stomach roll. The front desk greeters, with their pasted on smiles and cheesy name tags, made his skin crawl. The lurch and sway of the elevator. How did Sara work in the ER for five years? He suppressed a shudder. Michael stood by his side, broody and silent until the elevator reached the cardiology floor.
"Which way?” he demanded as the doors slid open.
"Left."
With a hard spin of his heel, he exited the elevator. When they reached the nurse's desk, Nicole spotted them. "Michael!” she ran toward them, hugged his brother. He didn't waste energy thinking about what had gone down between them. When the time came, he'd expose her for what she was if she didn’t screw herself in the meantime.
Defensively, Michael held her close. Nicole avoided Gabriel's gaze, choosing instead to face Michael’s crisply ironed shirt. They hadn't seen each other for over a year.
Still beautiful, he noted. Soft, blonde waves of hair tumbled around her shoulders, makeup impeccable, perfect nails. But she looked like she belonged nestled against Michael, and wasn't that plain weird? Like Michael, she dressed to the nines. "Nic,” he nodded, the closest to cordial he could manage, and headed into his father's room before she could reply.
Toni sat at her husband’s bedside, holding his Dad’s hand. A nurse bent over him, made adjustments to the myriad of technology supporting his father's life.
"Mom."
"Gabriel!” Toni spun, flew to her son, who wrapped her up in a hard hug. Antoinette Donovan, the steel-backed woman he knew and loved, trembled in his arms. Made him feel like a child again. "Thank God you're here."
After he had pressed a kiss to her tear-dampened cheek, he looked over her shoulder at his father.
"Your Dad wants to talk to you,” her smile faltered. Gabriel leaned over to drop a kiss on his father's clammy forehead.
"Dad."
Nathaniel's eyes fluttered open. Gabriel's heart twisted at the sight of him in a hospital gown, covered by the white sheet. His dad's thick, gray hair matted down to his skull. The waxy pallor of his father's face scared him shitless. The powerful patriarch of the family was a sick, pale man in a hospital bed.
"Son."
Gabriel sat, held his father's hand. Kept steady eye contact. "Hey, Dad, how's it going?” he asked his dad in a casual, offhand way.
He wheezed out a laugh and tossed a nod toward the machinery beeping as it tracked his vitals. "Look at all this. They think I'm dying. I'm not inclined to believe their assessment."
"Glad to hear it. Neither am I.” Gabe could be stubborn, like Nathaniel, and refused to believe his father would leave this earth until he decided to.
Michael and Nicole came in to stand at the foot of the bed. With his free hand, Nathaniel made a weak gesture toward them and his wife. "I'd like to talk to Gabriel alone."
Toni kissed her husband's mouth, cupped his cheek. "I love you. We'll be right out in the hall.” Then she kissed Gabriel, who gave her hand a squeeze, and the others left the room.
Nathaniel relaxed against the pillows, no longer needing to keep up a front for his wife.
The grip on his father's hand tightened. "You look tired."
He gave a single nod. "Doctor left right before you came. My heart has a blocked artery. They want to do emergency angioplasty. Maybe a bypass. I said yes, but not until you came."
Gabriel shook his head. "Dad, why the hell did you do that? You could have minimized —"
Nathaniel gave a curt motion of his hand. "Listen. I wanted to see you, talk to you. You're here now. You know where my will is, what to do if I don't come out of it? You memorized the combination?"
There would be no arguing with Nathaniel Donovan. Gabriel didn't bother to fight him. The knowledge didn't keep the sting from his eyes, the cut of pain from his throat. "Yes. I'll do it exactly the way you want. In about forty years, when you die."
Nathaniel sighed, relieved. "Good. After you had left DE, I modified the will. You'll know what to do. We need to talk."
Suddenly short of breath, Gabriel gripped the bedrail. How the hell did this happen? His father worked out, led a busy life. His father could die. "Whatever you want, Dad."
His father's eyes took on a soft look, which usually only happened when he looked at To
ni. "First, I'm sorry I didn't support your decision to leave DE. Your mom's been after me since you left to tell you and she's right, son. You made the right decision. The dream is mine, and Michael's. Not yours. Be happy."
This blessing from his father meant more to Gabriel than he could say. The last ten hours caught up with him and stripped him down and left him bare. Now he knew what Sara meant when she said her heart hurt. "I am happy. I love you, Dad, and I never meant to disappoint you."
"You’ve never been a disappointment. You're a good son, a good man. I'm proud of you. Sometimes we put our aspirations on our children, and it's wrong. Now you've found someone,” he noted.
More silver streaked his father's hair than the last time they’d seen each other. In spite of his mounting worry, he managed a smile. "We found each other. I want you to meet Sara, Dad. You're going to love her."
"Your mother already does.” Nathaniel stared hard at his son. "Do you?"
Leave it to Nathan to cut to the chase. Last night they'd decided to make love, and not to put on the pressure of rules or long term decisions. The two of them fought, laughed, cried, pushed at one another, worked hard and packed more vitality into the last three weeks than Gabriel experienced in years.
Though it was far too early to tell her he wanted more, and how to go about it, he did love her. It scared the hell out of him, but it was important his father knew Gabriel found happiness. The details came later.
"Yes, sir, I do love Sara,” he assured him.
Relief showed on his father’s face, and he smiled. "You deserve it. Toni’s crazy about her, and that's good enough for me. Now I need something else from you. "
Nathaniel survived the procedure. Though his heart sustained damage, with changes to his diet and stress load, his health would improve. The news left Gabriel limp with relief. Rapidly, all his adrenaline tanked.
The need for fresh air and a strong desire to escape the hedged-in sensation from hours in the waiting room forced him outside. When the automatic doors slid open, he filled his lungs with fresh air. From the hospital parking lot, Gabe called Sara.